Friday, October 16, 2015

Torah Thoughts on Noah

This week’s Torah portion, Noah, (Gen. 6:9-11:32) tells a
story of an ancient flood which wiped out all life in the world except for that
of Noah, his wife and sons and his sons’ wives, and one each male and female of
every species.In the beginning of the
tale, Noah is “a righteous man in his generation, he was above reproach; Noah
walked with God” (Gen. 6:9).Noah does
God’s bidding. He builds the ark to the exact specifications, collects the
animals, lives through the flood, and watches everything else on earth die.After spending nearly a full year on the ark,
God gives them permission to leave it.Noah
builds an altar and God blesses Noah and his family, and makes a covenant with
them with the rainbow as its sign.

And the next we hear of Noah, he plants a vineyard, drinks
of the wine and becomes drunk, then lies naked in his tent.What has become of the righteous man, above
reproach, who walked with God?

Almost ten years ago, I was in Biloxi, Mississippi on a
Hillel trip to help repair the extensive damage done by hurricane Katrina.Across the street from the home on which we
worked, a woman lived in a FEMA trailer on the front lawn of her destroyed
home.We noticed that she started
drinking bourbon at about ten every morning.One day she told us her flood narrative.When the hurricane was due to land, her boyfriend tied her with a belt high
on a telephone pole, and she stayed there for nine hours as the waters rose.In those hours, she told us, she watched the
dead body of her neighbor’s child wash down the street past her.A snake slithered up the telephone pole, and
she claimed that their eyes met in mutual fear.Neither of them tried to harm the other.She also told us that she had had a drinking problem in the past, but
had been clean and sober for six years before the hurricane. She lost her home and her sobriety, but she still
held the awful memories of what she had seen.

Perhaps there are things that human beings endure that cause
them to seek comfort in whatever way they can. Drinking alcohol can be one of those
comforts.Sometimes they can be
transcended.I hope that the woman in
Biloxi is once again safe in her own home, and has regained her sobriety.And maybe for the first time, I understand
why Noah needed to do what he did.

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